Photo: NHC/NOAA / Courtesy
Tropical Storm Julia strengthened into a hurricane on Saturday near several Colombian islands and was heading toward Nicaragua, reported the National Hurricane Center in its bulletin at 8: 00 pm EDT.
Hurricane #Julia Advisory 10A: Center of Julia Passing San Andres and Heading For the Coast of Nicaragua. Life-Threatening Flash Floods and Mudslides Possible From Heavy Rains Over Central America and Southern Mexico Through Early Next Week. https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 8, 2021
Hurricane Julia was about 20 miles west-southwest of San Andres , a Colombian island, at 8 pm on Saturday, with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour and about 550 miles east-northeast of Bluefields, a municipality on the east coast of Nicaragua, said the National Hurricane Center.
The NHC warned that the rains discharged by the fifth hurricane this season in the Atlantic can cause flooding and landslides in several countries of Central America and in the south of Mexico.
Once the center of Julia passes near the Colombian archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, the hurricane will hit Nicaragua tonight.
After crossing that country, it will travel near the Nicaraguan Pacific coast and those of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala on Sunday.
San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, in Colombia, and the Nicaraguan Caribbean coast, from Bluefields to Puerto Cabezas, are under a hurricane warning.
The hurricane is forecast to strengthen before reaching Nicaragua and weaken once it has entered inland.
Julia will weaken to a tropical depression on Monday and dissipate later that day.
In addition to rain and wind, Hurricane Julia is going to generate a storm surge
which can raise sea levels up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) and rip currents.